P.A.D. Day 34

Today is another venture into human form.  Hoping that I caught some movement, but not quite sure this one is what I'd hoped for.  Part of the learning process!  And I've committed to it so it's out there for public consumption anyway!

Untitled, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 33

Today brings something more relaxed and relaxing, although I am planning to tackle more people soon.  Today I'm practising some techniques I read about in some lessons on acrylic painting that I came across.  These weren't Bob Ross lessons, but I still think you you could call this a "happy little landscape".

Happy Little Landscape, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 32

Whoo!  I have to say that I'm still a  little wigged out by doing today's painting.  It was a personal milestone for me. I have never before painted a human figure or a human face, so I figured it appropriate to use as subject matter a picture of my firstborn.  Painting people has always been one of those things that I thought "real" artists did, and I never considered myself a "real" artist before.  Who comes up with these things we have hanging around in our heads anyway?  I know cognitively and now I know internally as well, that I am an artist simply by practicing my art, not by my subject matter.  Anyway, I don't know that the scanning process really caught the facial features really well from the painting, but here it is for your perusal.  Please be kind in your evaluations, it's my first one after all!

Gavin at Oxford, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 31

Today's painting is inspired by the scenes we saw on our drive home last night.  It appears that winter may finally be upon us.  While this is not to my best liking, I guess with scenes like this I can be reconciled to it.

Winter Trees At Night, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 30

So today marks one month of paintings.  It gives me pause to consider how quickly it has gone by and to realize that I am 1/12 of the way through my project.  It really reinforces to me that it was the right time to start.  There really was no reason to wait as long as I did, when I think about how many months I WASN'T painting and could have been!  But no matter, no worries about it now.  I am taking it one day at a time and enjoying the ride.  Who knows where it will lead?

Mountainscape, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 29

Really hoping that the sickness passing throughout the house will be limited to the two so far.  Just starting to feel like it might be infiltrating me, not looking forward to trying to be creative while in the throes of nausea.  Here we go for today.  Not so many colours today as yesterday!  but still learning and growing.

Path In A Wood, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 28

A Blessed and Joyous Christmas to all!  Among the many things I am thankful for today are the new paints and paintbrushes that I received as gifts!  Today's work is a product of them.  I managed to use every new colour in one way or another in this piece!  And it was so nice to have new brushes!  I didn't realize how smooth painting could feel.  I love my new brushes!  I'm feeling very blessed today and wish that peace for everyone who views this painting.  Enjoy!

Tongues of Colour, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 27

Well, it's not a very Christmas-y scene today, but it makes me feel relaxed so that's what I'm going for here.  Not too much to think or stress about, just calm waves...aaahhhhhh.

Beach, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 26

I often ponder the path God has laid out for us.  Not that I think it is predestined, but that he gives us opportunities that will produce great fruits if only we stop to recognize them.  I'm hoping that by doing this project I am getting closer to some of those opportunities and opening my heart to recognize them along the way.  May I be worthy to execute them to His glory.

Here is today's painting:

On Waves of Peace, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 25

Today I'm learning something about mixing colours.  Sometimes the results are somewhat surprising but they make sense when I stop to think about it.  I'm also learning to use all those colours that I never knew what they were like Prussian Blue and Phthalo Green!  Today's painting is titled after the place I took the photo and is actually not too bad to pronounce given that Irish spelling can be quite a nightmare!  (Glen- da- lock)

Glendalough, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 24

No time to chat today!  Here's today's painting:

Laughing Together, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 23

Here is Day 23, as we close in to Christmas.  I'm beginning wonder seriously how I will  manage the holiday.  I'm considering doing a couple of paintings ahead of time and then posting them on the day but I feel like that compromises the integrity of the project.  I'll have to see.

Sunset Landscape, acrylic on canvas board, 5" x 7"

P.A.D. Day 22

Pink Lily, acrylic on canvas board, 5" x 7"

P.A.D. Day 21

I've now completed 3 weeks of painting!  Today starts another series.  I won't be producing all the paintings in the series consecutively, but this begins a series called "Sillhouettes of Love".  This size is officially the largest that will fit on my scanner, and even then it doesn't quite fit completely.  Anything larger, and I'll have to photograph it to get it on the computer which will be slightly annoying because the camera always wants to colour-correct images to some sort of factory-preset determination of optimization.  I'll deal with that when I get there.

Still Waters, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 20

Day 20!!!  I've turned another corner.  Today we are turning to the impressionists for inspiration.  Today's painting is not what I necessarily wanted it to be because I'm running low on red paint.  There are so many logistics involved in art that you don't really consider in the creative process!  For instance after a year (and a leap year at that) off painting I am setting myself up to have on hand 366 paintings.    Let's just think about that for a minute.  Seven children and 366 paintings in one house.  That's a little crazy.  So I'm considering selling some of my work along the way.  I have not yet figured out the logistics of THAT.  But who knows, maybe people would actually buy it!

Blue Crocus, acrylic on canvas board, 5" x 7"

P.A.D. Day 19

Today we leave the abstract behind for some more representational work, but not for long as I have a whole series of abstracts planned.  Last night I pulled out my old sketch pad from high school and browsed to see some of my old stuff that I'd forgotten.  It's amazing to me that certain ideas are still what drive me in my work although they aren't really the ideas I've used yet, I think I'm waiting until I have bigger canvases to do them justice.

Lotus Reflection, acrylic on canvas board, 5" x 7"

P.A.D. Day 18

Today I'm going totally abstract.  Of course I'm also feeling slightly abstract after a couple of late nights in a row.  The thing about setting the alarm for 5:30 in the morning is that it comes really soon if you don't get to bed early.  Heaven help me throughout the holiday season!

Thin Red Line, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 17

If I was Picasso I would say that I was in my "Blue Period".  I am currently loving this colour blue.  Sometimes when I paint I just want to surround myself with  or lose myself in the colour I'm using.  This blue that I've been using lately does that for me.  Anyway here's today's piece:

Blue Guitar, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10

P.A.D. Day 16

Yesterday my wonderful husband heard me mention feeling constricted by the small canvas board sizes I had left. So he stopped at Curry's on his way home last night!  Now I have a couple of new boards to try.  Today's painting is on one of them.

Utitled, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 15

I have now temporarily run out of the size of canvas board that I've been working with so far and so I've moved to 5x7's for a short time.  I'm feeling fairly constricted there today.  And contrary to what I was thinking it didn't take me any less time really to fill a smaller space with colour.  Hopefully soon I'll get some bigger canvas boards and be able to expand my horizons again...literally!

Fall Tree, acrylic on canvas board, 5" x 7"

P.A.D. Day 14

So the lesson of today's painting is clear to me.  I do indeed need to perform the action of painting in order to grow as an artist.  I didn't know what I was going to paint this morning until after I had started to put colour on the canvas board. I just needed to do it.  So I'm glad I finally got myself in gear and just started when I did instead of leaving it longer because I "don't know what to paint".

Winter Night, acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D. Day 13

Presenting day 13's painting, my favourite one so far.  I'm not sure why but I think I feel drawn to trees as a subject.  What is it about trees?  I can't say I find them particularly interesting as a subject of intellectual study and information, other than in the sense that information is often interesting when it is new and eye-opening.  Yet, trees it is. For now.

Desert Tree, acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D. Day 12

Here's today's painting, day 12.  Trucking along on the painting train.

Lily. acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D. Day 11

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception!  If I were still in university I could come up with a shovelful of justification about the symbolism of today's painting relating the two together, but I'm not there anymore.  So I just thought I'd share that.

I'm really itching to try oils again, I haven't used them since high school, but there are a lot more logistics involved, more time cleaning, and storing and a LOT more time drying !  I'll have to figure it out.  Here is today's painting:

Untitled, acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D. Day 10

Woohoo Day 10!!  Another small milestone of persistence and accomplishment.  I think I'm learning what I like to paint and what I don't prefer, but I feel like I should also paint things that are not my preference in order to balance out my skills.  I think that's another one of those hang-ups I need to get over.  If I want to love painting then I need to paint what I like to paint and balance be damned!  However I do need to get more white paint.  It's amazing how much white you go through in relation to the other colours.

Stained Glass, acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D. Day 9

On the Feast of Saint Nicholas:

Cherry Blossoms, acrylic on canvas board 7" x 9"

Thoughts on Art

I admit that I don't have a lot to blog about at the moment other than my art. I am fairly taken up with that and don't have a lot of creative energy left for other thoughts at the moment. But I've been thinking about art a great deal more than usual and I'm getting over some hang ups.

 One of the reasons that it took me this long to get to painting was that I felt that I wasn't really good enough at it to warrant spending much time on it. That is what you might call stinking thinking. By limiting myself because of what I thought my ability level was I was keeping myself down. How else is one to get better at something except through practice. After all I'm sure Van Gogh didn't just start out by producing famous masterpieces. He was doing what he loved to do and people saw something in it that they appreciated and the fame grew from that as a result.

 Now I know that not every artist is destined for fame, but that needs to be distinguished from greatness. Not all greatness is recognized and turned into fame. There may be many great people who are never known beyond their own circle of influence. Some of us will have the fortune (or misfortune ;P) to have our works and names recognized by many more than those who know us personally. That in no way means that we are better than someone who may not yet be recognized!

 And so I want to encourage all of you who read this to do something that you love now, while you have the time before you, and not look back wishing you had done more of what you love. A friend recently posted an article on Facebook that talked about palliative care and the top five things that people in that circumstance almost always regret. While I don't remember the specifics, it made me think. I know that If I came to the end of my life and had not painted, I would regret never expressing that side of my creativity. And at the same time I think it's an important lesson for my children, that they see someone nourishing themselves creatively, taking time to learn a new skill and risking being vulnerable by exposing my works for public consumption. So take a chance, step outside of yourself, and do something you've always wanted to do, even if you feel like you're no good at it, you'll never get any better unless you try.

P.A.D. Day 8

Today's painting his more in the nature of an exercise than a composition.  It was an exercise in familiarizing myself with a new brush (which btw wasn't that great, the bristles kept splaying out when I didn't want them to), an exercise in using colours that are not in my favourite range, (generally I prefer blues and greens), and an exercise in playing with wavy lines and seeing if I could make them do what I wanted them to do (sometimes lines just don't go where you want them to go, pesky things!).

Untitled, acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D. Day 7

So today marks the completion of a week of painting something every day.  I am fighting the feeling of wanting to know what my style will ultimately be and what subject matter will make up the most of my work.  I know that this can only be found by the process of the journey, and not by any other means.  So here is today's step on the path.

Untitled, acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

By the way, the title of yesterday's piece is "Nativity".

P.A.D. Day 6

I admit to not getting up so early this morning, but I figure on a Saturday that can be forgiven  I think in future though I will get up earlier rather than later on a weekend even though I can sleep in more easily.  It just allows for more to get done during the day.  Here's some colour for the weekend!

It has a title, but I'll share it later, what do you think?  Acrylic on canvas board, 7" x 9"

P.A.D Day 5

It's funny how things work out in art work.  Today's piece is an attempt at something purely representational.  When I was painting it I really liked the way the clouds were going and I was debating leaving the tree out of the picture all together, (working from a photo that included the tree).  Now, after scanning it and seeing it on the screen, the tree is actually my favourite part of the piece!

Sunset from My Backyard acrylic on canvas board, 7" x9"

P.A.D. Day 4

So I'm definitely appreciating getting up earlier in the mornings, I feel like the whole day gets off to a better start when I've accomplished something by 8 o'clock in the morning.  However I think I may need to revise my bedtime slightly.  Coffee will only keep me awake so long without eventually needing a sleep back-up!  Anyway today's painting is actually titled!

Twisted Ribbons, acrylic on canvas board, 7"x9"